blün - vegetables and fish in the cycle

Fish and vegetables from the city on the Danube: blün – the Viennese urban farming startup – offers the best of both worlds with the topic of the future, aquaponics: fish (blue) and vegetables (green) from sustainable closed loop recycling.

More than half the world’s population now lives in cities and this trend is rising. Innovative and sustainable food production concepts are needed to ensure that these people are nourished over the long term. The focus here is on the most sparing use of resources.

The Viennese company blün, which operates the first commercial aquaponics plant in Austria in the 22nd district, shows how this environmentally-friendly approach can be “transparent, local and eco-effective”. Their aquaponics plant combines fish and vegetable farming in a closed cycle. In addition to locally bred catfish, blün produces and sells many varieties of tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers and chilies.

Aquaponics is a sustainable process that combines breeding fish with farming crops. It combines the water cycle for fish – the aqua – with the “hydro-ponic” supply of vegetable plants. The technique is comparable to hydroponics used for house plants.

At blün, vegetables grow in a greenhouse on an soil-like substrate, which is completely composted after harvesting. Waste water from fish farming is also used a second time as fertilizer for the vegetables. Fish and vegetable farming thus become one, hence the name: blün (German: blau) like blue for fish and water, green (German: grün) for plants and vegetables.

blün was founded in 2016 according the motto: “Food with more life in Vienna” by four innovative farmers and gardeners from Vienna. From its premises in Essling, a district of Vienna, the company supplies not only households but also renowned retail and gastronomy partners throughout Vienna. blün also sells directly from the company’s own farm and via its webstore. The online store was expanded in 2020 with funding from the Vienna Business Agency and the product range was expanded to include products from other innovative Viennese “urban farmers”.

The year 2020 also had a lasting effect: blün optimized its vegetable packing station during the lockdown in spring. Since then, the delivery of ordered goods has been CO2-neutral via the postal service. A final note for anyone who would like to find out more about blün: The company invites interested parties to take a personal tour of the production facility.